The main artery of downtown Warsaw is to be transformed into a green boulevard. Such an announcement has just been made by the capital's authorities. The reconstruction of the street will be possible thanks to the modernization of the railroad cross-city line. A less than two-kilometer section of the street is to undergo a metamorphosis.
dug up capital
Photo: ZDM Warsaw
The Warsaw Municipal Roads Authority has announced a tender for the design of a section of Jerozolimskie Avenue from the Forty-Year-Old Roundabout to the entrance to the Poniatowski Bridge overpass. The task is to be carried out in close cooperation with the Polish State Railways (PKP), which is preparing to rebuild the railroad tunnel running under the artery. The work is to be carried out using the open-pit method - so the entire center of the capital will be dug up. Two new train stops will also be built as part of the investment. Stations under the De Gaulle traffic circle and on Solec closer to the Vistula River will replace the existing Warszawa Powiśle station. The investment is scheduled for completion in 2027.
Photo: ZDM Warszawa
This is one of the biggest challenges of the New Warsaw Center program, which will change the face of the central part of the capital. We are working on this task together with PKP, which plans to rebuild the cross-town tunnel. We want Jerozolimskie Avenue to turn into a beautiful public space, friendly to pedestrians, bicycles and public transportation, as well as full of greenery, once the railroad investment is completed.
Michal Olszewski, deputy mayor of Warsaw.
photo by Alina Zienowicz / Wikimedia Commons
Jerozolimskie Avenue in its central section is a car-dominated concrete desert. There is a lack of pedestrian crossings and roads for bicycles. All this translates into quality of life and conditions for services. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has also left its negative mark on the street, leaving many service establishments deserted.
pre-war character
photo: Zbyszko Siemaszko / NAC
After the planned reconstruction, the avenues are to resemble Swietokrzyska Street, which was renovated several years ago. Parking bays, two-way bicycle paths, greenery and wide sidewalks will appear in place of roadway lanes. Trees will grow in four rows, which will restore the avenues to their pre-war character. Two traffic circles - Dmowskiego and de Gaulle'a - will disappear. In their place, intersections will be created, which is intended to reclaim space for pedestrians and shorten access for transfers.
The new center of Warsaw
photo: ZDM Warszawa
The reconstruction of Jerozolimskie Avenue is one of the elements of the New Center of Warsaw, announced by President Rafał Trzaskowski. The program is being consistently implemented. Reconstruction of the so-called Five Corners Square and the west side of Marszałkowska Street in the area of pl. Defilad. A tender has been solicited to design the reconstruction of Marszałkowska Street in the sections south (to Konstytucji Square) and north (Królewska - Bankowy Square) from the Dmowskiego traffic circle. And last year the central section of Jana Pawła II Avenue, along with the Forty-Year Roundabout, underwent a comprehensive change. Soon the results of the competition for the concept of developing Chmielna Street will also be known.
